


Stretch Your Wings

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Series: KuroDai Week 2017 [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Magic, Magic Highschool, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 11:45:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10853328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Sawamura is feeling a bit off but Kuroo knows the best way to cheer him up.





	Stretch Your Wings

 

Sawamura wasn’t quite sure how he had ended up in an altercation with the captain of the basketball team, though he wasn’t all that surprised.  The _Oni_ in the school tended to flock towards the basketball team and Sawamura for his part steered clear of them but they were always the first one to the cafeteria and they bought all the food before anyone else could.  This wasn’t a huge problem for Sawamura, who mostly brought his lunch from home but he couldn’t stand by as the captain of the basketball team shoved a boy, who probably weighed as much as his thigh, out of the way of the food.

 

It was surprisingly Kuroo who pulled them apart, pushing into the _Oni’s_ space and whispering something that made the tall boy go pale and scuttle off.  Sawamura didn’t feel too bad, the boy would be back to his horrible behavior by the end of lunch.  But Sawamura was still angry, felt something hot and unpleasant itch just beneath his skin.  His back, neck, and shoulders all hurt and he was fighting a losing battle against a major migraine.  He had wanted to punch something and Kuroo had gotten in the way of that.

 

Sawamura wasn’t usually a violent person.

 

“I had it handled.”  Sawamura turned away from Kuroo, moving down the hallway quickly.  He had only come out of his classroom to get away from the chatter that seemed to rub against his senses in all the wrong ways.

 

“I know, I wasn’t stepping in to protect you, he was about three seconds away from being beaten.”  Kuroo kept pace with Sawamura easy, damn his long legs.  “You usually don’t let the _Oni_ bother you.”  Even though Kuroo was right Sawamura still found it annoying.

 

“I’m fine.”  Sawamura said in a tone even he recognized as snappish.

 

“Hey-” Kuroo reached out, pulling Sawamura to a stop and Sawamura moved away from him, flinching at the sharp tug on his back.  “You want to get some fresh air?”  Sawamura was tempted to tell Kuroo off but something stilled his tongue.  Kuroo wasn’t given to bouts of seriousness often and Sawamura guessed if he blew Kuroo off now that it would do some real damage.

 

So Sawamura held his tongue and motioned for Kuroo to lead the way.  Kuroo lead him out of the school building, past the courtyard where most of the students were milling about on the cool spring day, past the first two gyms and to the back of the third.  There was a big willow tree near the third gym.  Most people avoided it because of the ghost of the dead boy who hung himself on the tree was extremely unpleasant, and rather rude.  Though Sawamura guessed he’d be angry if he attempted to kill himself and was stuck in the one place he was trying to get away from for all of eternity.

 

Ghosts tended to stay away from Kuroo though.  Sawamura wasn’t quite sure what he was, there were all sorts of rumors.  Some thought he was a _Bakeneko_ or a _Nekomata_ , there were a couple whispers about him even being a _Kasha_ but it was considered rude questioning a _Yokai’s_ heritage and no one really wanted to get on Kuroo’s bad side.  Especially if he was a _Kasha._

 

Though Sawamura had the sudden insight that if he asked Kuroo what exactly he was, he might just get an answer.  It didn’t matter much to him though, Sawamura himself was from a long line of _Tengu’s_ and the misconceptions he heard were enough to make him wish others didn’t know what he was.

 

They had been going to the same high school for the past two and half years, now well into their third and final year.  Sawamura had disliked Kuroo at first.  He was cocky and manipulative and enjoyed riling people up.  He was intelligent and used that wit against people also.  But he was also loyal and given to bouts of kindness when he thought no one was looking.

 

Sawamura wasn’t sure when Kuroo and he became friends, just that it seemed like a natural progression.  At some point he stopped turning to his side to wonder why Kuroo was there and started thinking why he wasn't there more often.  It was a dangerous road to go down and Sawamura had enough issues to deal with.

 

“So are the bindings hurting you?”  Kuroo asked, tilting his head to look over Sawamura’s shoulders even though there wasn’t much to see.

 

“My secondary wings grew in,” Sawamura explained, or half explained.  A _Tengu’s_ wings, at least for his family, came in sets of two.  The secondary wings were always there, but until they reached adulthood they tended to be small and unusable, hidden beneath their primary wings.  Sawamura’s had grown in early and the bindings required to hold down the wings under their clothes were expensive and custom made, so he was forced to wear his old ones that were clearly too small.

 

“Can I see?”  Kuroo asked, hands buried deep in his pocket and looking bored of all things.  Sawamura hadn’t shown his wings to anyone who wasn’t a _Tengu_ before, and most of those were his family members.  “You need to stretch them out anyways, right?”  Kuroo was merely guessing but he was right.

 

Sawamura glanced around and realized that it must have been Kuroo’s plan all along because they were in a deserted place.  They were even guarded from the windows of the school by the gym building and the large willow tree.

 

Sawamura decided to ignore the blatant manipulation and started to take off his school blazer.  Everything was bought a size bigger to accommodate the wings, but with his secondary wings everything felt tighter, restricting.  At home Sawamura hardly bothered with a shirt, much to his mother's constant disapproval.

 

Kuroo hummed a soft melody as he looked away, but not before Sawamura saw the pink tinge to his ears.  It was neither too cold nor too sunny for the weather to have affected him like that, and Sawamura felt suddenly in a better mood.

 

Sawamura groaned as he pulled off the bindings, letting them fall to the ground on top of his uniform as he shook out his wings.  Kuroo’s soft humming died off as he looked from one tip to the other.  Sawamura contained his grin as he spread his wings out to their full length, giving them a good stretch while simultaneously giving Kuroo a show.  Sawamura was fully aware there was nothing special about the color of his wings, mostly they were varying degrees of black and dark gray but they expanded quite a bit, spreading out far to either side of Sawamura.  The newly grown secondary wings added to the volume, and they were of a softer black.

 

Sawamura curled his left wing in, hitting Kuroo gently with it and watching him jump like a frightened cat.

 

“Thank you, this was a great idea.”  Sawamura said before Kuroo could whine about Sawamura scaring him.  Kuroo shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, looking suddenly flustered.

 

“Can’t have you go beating people up because you’re all tense, how do those even fit beneath your uniform?”  Kuroo stepped closer, eyes still scanning Sawamura’s wings as he settled them comfortably behind him.  “Can I touch them?”  Sawamura felt his heart pick up a beat, his skin felt suddenly warm even though he knew, _he knew_ that Kuroo didn’t know what he was asking.  Not really.

 

Touch was very important to _Tengus_ in the sense that you only really touched your family and close friends.  Touching someone’s wings was almost a downright proposal.  Not even Sawamura’s parents touched his wings.  But curiosity was getting the best of him so he nodded, face warm, and turned around.  He felt vulnerable like that, exposed in a way that had his heart beating a quick tempo inside his chest.  His wings rustled with his nerves.

 

Kuroo started by touching the very tips of his feathers, a barely there pressure.  Sawamura hardly felt it, the feathers further out weren’t all that sensitive, the closer the feathers got to his back the more he felt from them.

 

“Are they heavy?”  Kuroo asked, voice soft.

 

“I’ve gotten use to it, the secondary wings throw off my balance right now.”  Though Sawamura knew once he worked up the muscle in them they would help him fly faster and farther without tiring.  Not that he had much opportunity to fly very often.  “I think it’s like-” Sawamura’s voice cut off on a sharp inhale as he felt fingers burying themselves into the feathers nearest his back.

 

“The lower wings are softer.”  Kuroo commented, as if he had no idea that Sawamura was having a mild panic attack.  It turned out his secondary wings were very sensitive.  The warning bell was Sawamura’s salvation before he did something truly embarrassing, like moan or confess.  “Let me see the bindings, I think I’ve got an idea.”

 

Kuroo somehow made the bindings fit a little looser.  They were still too snug but it no longer felt like every move Sawamura made was ripping out feathers.  Sawamura quickly got dressed after that, peering up into Kuroo’s eyes.  The taller boy was back to humming a soft melody, but his cheeks were pink and his fingers kept twitching, as if in memory.

 

Sawamura grinned, moving quick to place a feather soft kiss on Kuroo’s cheek before walking back towards the school.

 

“H-hey!  Wait!”  Kuroo stuttered behind him.  Sawamura knew it was only temporary, Kuroo would be back to his smirking insufferable self in no time but right then Sawamura had the upper hand and he enjoyed it.

 


End file.
